Nectar Trust: Qatar Charity’s mask to finance terrorism, whitewash reputation

Mustafa Kamel

Nectar Trust is the new name used for Qatar Charity to penetrate Europe, used in an attempt to whitewash its reputation, deny charges against it, and cover up its dubious activities to fund groups through the charitable umbrella, which has divided its operations in Europe into entities affiliated with the Doha-based Qatar Charity.

Evasive tactics                     

Qatar Charity was established in 1992 with the stated goal of developing the Qatari community and needy societies. It was founded by Yousef bin Ahmed al-Kuwari, who has served as CEO of the organization since October 2011, after he previously held the position of Director of Financial Services. Qatar Charity moved to London in 2012, where its Qatar Charity UK branch was established by Saleh Saeed in March 2012, and it began noticeable activity in support of the Brotherhood.

The Qatarileaks website reported in 2018 that the association had renamed its UK branch Nectar Trust in order to avoid suspicions by international banks, as it received a lot of money from the Qatari government, which was behind the construction of a huge mosque in Sheffield supervised by leaders of the Brotherhood.

Qatar Papers

Meanwhile, French authors Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot revealed in their book “Qatar Papers” that Doha sought to change the name of its institution to Nectar Trust in October 2017 in order to evade the prosecution of its support and financing of extremists. The authors noted that the organization uses the new name to fund the Brotherhood, pumping more than 4 million Swiss francs into five projects affiliated with Brotherhood organizations in Switzerland between 2011 and 2014.

Suspicious activities

According to Qatarileaks, the organization collected more than £28 million in 2017 to finance Brotherhood branches, with one branch receiving about £400,000.

Through Nectar Trust, Qatar Charity has given the Institut Européen des Sciences Humaines (IESH), an Islamic educational institution based in Paris, about £1 million over the past three years, according to UAE-based The National.

Meanwhile, French website Mediapart has warned about Nectar Trust’s activities in Europe, pointing out that it focuses on the neediest groups in British and European society through important areas such as culture, education, economy and aid, aiming to be the charitable partner for Qatari investments in Europe and to bear the brunt of responsibility.

Terrorist financing

According to the report, Nectar Trust collects funds on its behalf for projects such as a Sheffield mosque and financing the Brotherhood’s branches, including £397,000 to one of the branches. The organization also established the Emaan Trust of Sheffield in 2015, which was the third largest investment for Qatar Charity in the UK, with a value of £638.695. It is a multi-purpose center that includes a nursery, full-time school, cultural and social center, multi-purpose hall, library, restaurant, prayer hall, gym and parking. In 2016, the project’s expenditures were £704,983.